1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink application device for tattooing or for making permanent make-up that can apply tattoos or other permanent make-up. In particular, this invention relates to a permanent make-up ink application device for ensuring sterility when treating customers.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The spreading of highly infectious bacterial or viral infectious diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis, which are transmitted by bodily fluids, places substantial pressure on cosmeticians with respect to the hygienic handling of the tools and ink containers when applying permanent make-up (PMU) and tattoos. In everyday practice, these concerns are not easy to address.
It is particularly problematic in the practice of applying permanent make-up and tattoos because these measures are so invasive. In particular, the customer""s skin is pierced by the method, and blood or blood serum may issue from the treated portion of the skin. Moreover, the parts of the device that come into direct contact with the customer, in particular, the needles and needle nozzles, are contaminated by the customer""s bodily fluids. In order to avoid known diseases transmitted by bodily fluids, such as AIDS and hepatitis, these parts of the device must be sterile before treatment and are to be regarded as potentially infectious after treatment. Therefore, they must be disposed of accordingly.
Thus, it is common practice that certain parts of the PMU or tattoo device, such as needles, are disposable articles. Other parts can be used several times and thus must be carefully cleaned and sterilized after use. Before use, these parts must be taken out of the sterile packaging in which they are stored and then they are mounted in or at the PMU or manual tattoo device. This requires a substantial amount of time and money and further requires great care from the users to ensure that all parts are sterile when the device is used on customers.
When applying tattoos or permanent make-up, ink to be introduced into the skin is typically taken from large ink reservoir containers, usually large ink bottles. Then the ink is either directly applied onto the customer""s skin or it is injected by means of syringes, dropper pipettes or similar tools into a PMU or tattoo pen by means of which the tattoo is applied. The amount of ink in the ink bottles is significantly larger than the quantity required for one customer. One bottle is therefore used for a multitude of tattoos and make-up applications or for multiple customers.
This practice poses health risks for customers because of the danger that bodily fluids, such as blood or serum issuing from the injured skin of a customer when piercing, xe2x80x9ccarving-inxe2x80x9d or contacting the skin while applying the ink, contact the filling aids used for transferring the ink out of the reservoir ink bottles. As a result, the bodily fluids may spread into the reservoir bottle thereby losing the sterility of the bottle. Under these circumstances, several customers can be contaminated by infectious diseases if the same ink and the same filing aid are used.
The prolonged storage of the ink in the relatively large reservoir container and the permanent extraction of small amounts for treating customers can, despite all precautionary measures, cause the contamination of the ink with dust particles, germs and bacteria and may lead to an infection in the customer. The sterility of the ink can therefore not always be reliably ensured despite careful hygienic measures. Moreover, an economic handling of the relatively expensive ink is not possible with this method.
An object of the invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages and to reliably ensure the sterility of a device and the ink for each customer, each tattoo and each permanent make-up in a simple manner.
According to the invention, the object is solved by an ink application device for tattooing or for making permanent make-up, comprising a handle, a needle drive, a needle, a needle nozzle and a protective cap, and at least two modules releasably connected to one another, wherein one of the modules is formed as a reusable base module with an integrated needle drive, and the other module is a sterilized disposable module in which all components of the manual device capable of being infected by bodily fluids of a customer are integrated.
The ink application device is constructively divided into two or three separate modules: a basic module, a disposable or hygienic module and an optional ink module, e.g. an ink cartridge, wherein the basic module corresponds to the handle which includes the drive and is designated such that the hygienic module can be safely attached and connected to the drive.
When using a disposable module which includes all parts that can potentially be infected during treatment by the customer""s bodily fluids, the exchange of single parts of the manual device, such as the needle or needle nozzles and the sterilization of the remaining parts that may have contacted the bodily fluid, becomes superfluous before the next use of the manual device on another customer. The disposable module is removed from the basic module after the treatment and is disposed of in the usual manner. Then, it is necessary for the subsequent treatment to plug a new disposable module onto the basic module to make the device ready to operate for the next customer. Since the disposable module is taken from a sterile package directly before use, its sterility is ensured without the need for special hygienic measures by the user or hygienic conditions in the treatment environment.
The connection between the basic module and the disposable module can be established and released in a simple manner so that the device can also be simply and safely used even by less experienced users.
Since the ink tank is filled before the sterilization process or after removal from the sterile packaging by means of a sterilized ink cartridge with an ink quantity sufficient for one treatment, the contamination or infection of the ink is effectively prevented, and the required sterility during treatment is ensured.
The ink quantity of approximately 0.5 to 2.0 ml provided according to preferred embodiments is usually sufficient for one tattoo or PMU. If further ink is required for larger tattoo applications, the empty ink cartridge can easily be replaced by a new, sterile cartridge without the risk of contamination or infection.
An ink container can, for instance, be used as an ink cartridge as disclosed in the German Utility Model No. 299 16 971, which is incorporated herein by reference.
A sealing diaphragm provided, according to the preferred embodiments, between the basic and disposable module ensures that no ink leaks from the ink tank of the disposable module and enters the basic module. This ensures that the reusable basic module is not exposed to bodily fluids and can be reused without having to be sterilized. In addition, the diaphragm also prevents the penetration of impurities, germs or bacteria which may adhere to the basic module, into the sterile disposable module.
The manual device according to the invention achieves the special hygienic conditions necessary for applying tattoos or PMUs with simple handling procedures to ensure sterility of the elements contacting the customer""s skin.